Steve McQueen on the Moment He Saw Lupita

Steve McQueen’s critically acclaimed drama, “12 Years A Slave” has not only received an endless amount of praise from industry insiders and theater-goers, it has also birthed a tremendous amount of recognition for one of the film’s stars, Lupita Nyong’o.

Since appearing in McQueen’s masterpiece, the 30-year-old actress has graced the covers of various magazines, and spotted rubbing elbows with the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Anna Wintour. Earlier this week McQueen appeared alongside Nyong’o during an episode of “Piers Morgan Live” where he discussed how he was blown away by her presence prior to filming the Oscar-nominated flick.

“I first saw Lupita on tape, and at first I thought it was a mirage, in a way,” he recalled. “I was rubbing my eyes as I was seeing what I was seeing. I brought my daughter in, I brought my wife in and they confirmed to me that I was looking at a great actress.”

“And then I got on the phone to my agent and said that we need to see this woman immediately. And it was just one of those moments where you kind of just quiver and sort of tremble because you know this is something big.”